Designing of facilities of the future Arctic ship repair cluster in the Murmansk Region will start in 2024. The first site will be the Murmansk sea fishing port, as Governor Andrey Chibis informed journalists at the 13th International Forum "Arctic: Present and Future". This was reported by TASS.

He clarified that two locations in Murmansk are under consideration for establishing ship repair cluster facilities. One of them, in accordance with the agreement between the regional authorities and the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), will be located in the Murmansk fishing port, and the second—on the grounds of a former ship repair yard in the city centre, which S7 Group has decided to restore and modernise.

"For us, ship repair is a top priority. Previously, our fishing vessels were serviced abroad—in Norwegian ports, but now that's no longer possible, so there is a need to develop ship repair within our region. We discussed this previously, but there was no demand back then. I think that given the number of vessels that are available and the growth in the number of vessels, there will be sufficient demand for these types of works on both projects," added Mr. Chibis.

The head of the Murmansk Region pointed out that in the future, the region's ship repair facilities will be utilised by fishing vessels operating in the northern sea basin and other vessels working in the Northern Sea Route waters.

The ship repair capacities in the Murmansk Region are primarily used to service the military–industrial complex, aided by the presence of the Northern Fleet in the region. To promote civilian ship repair in the Arctic, the authorities of the Murmansk Region proposed to zero VAT in this industry and to modernise the existing docks and berths in the region, most of which are outdated. The authorities highlight that a foundation for the forced development of ship repair in the Arctic is already in place: the market has been formed, preferential tax schemes of the PDA "Capital of the Arctic" and the AZRF are in effect, and there is a pool of personnel and the necessary educational potential—engineering classes specialising in "ship repair."